K-pop label SM Entertainment slides into a quarterly loss; stock sinks 7%

Even K-pop's hit factories have off quarters. SM Entertainment, the label behind aespa and NCT, saw its stock sink more than 7% on Wednesday after reporting an unprofitable quarter, Billboard reports. Lower physical and digital music sales and lower concert revenue cut overall revenue by 9% to 291.1 billion Korean won ($205.2 million). Operating profit fell 26% from a year earlier to 35.5 billion won ($25 million), and the company posted a net loss of 1.1 billion won ($775,000), compared with a 44.7 billion won ($31.5 million) profit a year ago — mainly because of foreign exchange losses. Big fan bases do not shield a label from currency swings.